Dubai: Arabtec Holding, the construction firm that helped build the world’s tallest tower, confirmed on Tuesday that it was in discussions about a possible merger with Trojan Holding. The two sides have commenced a review “of the possibility of combining their construction businesses,” Arabtec said. It said that if a deal is reached, it may lead to a merger between Arabtec and Abu Dhabi-based Trojan.

Arabtec’s share prices jumped on the news, and were trading over 10 per cent higher in the first 50 minutes of trade. Shares of the company were the most actively traded on the Dubai bourse, and rose past Dh1.76. The confirmation on Tuesday comes after Arabtec said last week that it was “willing to explore the possibility” of collaboration with Trojan Holding. The company did not say it was considering a merger at the time, only saying it was studying “a cooperation agreement” that would allow the two companies to collaborate in the construction sector.